OKLAHOMA CITY – As the 2024 session of the Oklahoma Legislature draws to a close, one of the measures left on the table is House Bill 1028 by Rep. John Talley, R-Stillwater, and Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa. That measure would have ended the use of corporal punishment on children with certain disabilities.

“We gave the Legislature, specifically the Oklahoma House of Representatives, every opportunity to do the right thing,” said Joe Dorman, CEO of the Oklahoma Institute of Child Advocacy, which had been pushing the bill. “By even the most conservative count, there are enough bipartisan votes in the House to have passed the bill.

“Sadly, the leadership team of the House refused to bring the bill up, killing it in the proverbial ‘smoke-filled room’.”

The version of HB 1028 representatives would have considered had already passed the Oklahoma Senate by a healthy margin. All that was left was two separate votes, one to accept the Senate amendments to the bill and then a vote on final passage, to send the bill to Governor Stitt’s desk. Failure of the House leadership to allow the votes has again made Oklahoma “a national embarrassment,” advocates assert.

The diverse group of organizations and advocates who had worked tirelessly to pass the bill are not letting the issue die there. At a State Capitol news conference, the group unveiled a plan to use legal pressure to end the practice of allowing government employees to administer the “deliberate infliction of physical pain by hitting, paddling, spanking, slapping or any other physical force used as a means of discipline” altogether.

The advocates noted that the measure had no impact on the ability of parents to use corporal punishment on their children. HB 1028 simply would have prevented a government employee of a school district form using violence against children with specific disabilities, some of whom might not even have known for what they were being harmed.

The group noted that it would be seeking legal representation for any family of any student who is subjected to corporal punishment in an Oklahoma school, regardless of whether the student is disabled. Several attorneys have indicated their willingness to help ensure judicial oversight of a punishment that is unfairly inflicted and that can be damaging to children.

“Oklahoma should not be arguing over whether it is right to hit children,” said A.J. Griffin, a former Republican member of the Oklahoma Senate who now is CEO of the Potts Family Foundation. “Yes, we are disappointed in Speaker McCall and the House GOP leadership for not allowing HB 1028 to be considered.

“Still, as you hear at the Capitol, there is more than one way to get things done. Corporal punishment in school contributes to the trauma many Oklahoma children face. It’s time for all professional educators to end the harmful practice everywhere.”

Oklahoma pediatrician Amanda Page, M.D., spoke to the effectiveness of corporal punishment as a means of discipline.

“As a pediatrician, I care for children with disabilities every day,” she said. “The evidence is incontrovertible: These children are disproportionately subjected to corporal punishment in schools. Not only is it applied unfairly, but this form of punishment has also been proven to be ineffective and harmful for all children. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends banning corporal punishment in schools, and it is more than time for Oklahoma to follow suit.”

Dr. Kyle Reynolds said, “It’s a shame that a commonsense state like ours cannot seem to grasp the commonsense approach of putting a stop to allowing school personnel to hit kids. The research is clear, and we know better: hitting kids is the wrong approach to discipline. Our schools should be a safe place for every child, not an institution that condones physical violence and trauma.”

Most school districts in Oklahoma have already abandoned the practice of corporal punishment altogether; still a troubling number of districts still let government employees employ the “deliberate infliction of physical pain by hitting, paddling, spanking, slapping or other physical force” on students regardless of whether they have disabilities.

“Those who believe that government should be allowed to beat children, special needs or not, may think they have won a battle by stopping HB 1028,” Dorman concluded. “I assure you, despite the backslapping and self-congratulating, they have lost the war. Corporal punishment in Oklahoma will end, and – like on so many issues – lawmakers are behind the experts and the people they claim to represent.

“We who care about Oklahoma’s children are no longer willing to wait on them to do the right thing.”